Have you ever noticed how easy it is to complain and how little positive results come from it, especially if you remain stuck in it? Complaining is a favorite practice of the fear, lack and struggle-based Inherited Purpose. The more we complain the more we allow the Inherited Purpose to shape our life.

However, we can use the contrast that we experience that often leads to complaining as a pivot point rather than continuing to wallow in our upset. A powerful antidote to complaining is being grounded in gratitude. When we look at what we are grateful for, we pivot from the fear, lack and struggle of the Inherited Purpose and begin to move into the pace of Universal Love, abundance and flow. In fact, with a little practice we can minimize the need to complain and in many cases start by being grounded in gratitude.

For example, recently Ann and I viewed a documentary about electric cars and realized that owning such a vehicle would be consistent with our value to be as Earth friendly as possible. At the same time we’re not ready to simply rush out and trade in our van and Mercedes that’s sitting in our driveway.

Now, it would be easy and fairly natural for me to begin to find fault with our current vehicles, and of course, it wouldn’t take anytime before I’d be complaining about them. You might even say that it’s human nature to have to find fault with something that we’re no longer interested in having in our life as a way to justify wanting something else. And the more we want something else, the stronger the tendency to complain about what we presently have.

But an important part of the “mindful” of “mindful abundance” is catching those tendencies that really don’t serve us, and minimizing their effects. So, instead of complaining about the fact that my Mercedes only gets 20 miles to the gallon instead of some of the hybrids that are getting 50-plus miles per gallon, or an electric car that doesn’t even use gasoline, I can be grateful that my Mercedes gets 20 miles per gallon instead of 10 miles per gallon like some SUV’s. I can also be grateful that it has given me a dependable, comfortable ride and without any car payment since purchasing and paying cash.

So, the principle is simple – be grateful for “what is” as well as for what’s on its way.

*** Observe the Energy/Emotion Accompanying Your Thoughts *** (Coming in a couple of days, so be sure to check back).

*** Observe the Energy/Emotion Accompanying Your Thoughts *** (Coming in a couple of days, so be sure to check back).

Consider that our emotional states have attractive properties of differing degrees. Gratitude, being closely akin to Universal Love, has a strong attractive property, so the more grateful we are the more effective we become in attracting what we truly desire into our lives. So, don’t just think grateful thoughts, feel the emotion of gratitude, appreciation and love to supercharge your ability to attract what you want into your life.

Again, this may take some practice since complaining about what we don’t like about our life is such a common practice in our life that many of our relationships are built upon it. For example, several years ago my wife, Ann, had a “good friend” who she would meet with for lunch on a regular basis. As Ann continued along her own spiritual and personal development path, she began to realize these regular lunch meetings were really just an opportunity for the two of them to complain about their lives, especially about how the men in their lives mistreated them.

Since Ann was committed to move beyond complaining and to consciously take responsibility for creating her life, it wasn’t long before she realized that she and her friend had little in common, so she lovingly let go of the relationship, thus opening the way for new, more empowering and life enhancing relationships to fill the void.

Other powerful and positive emotions that can supercharge your ability to attract abundance in your life and that are closely akin to gratitude include passion, enthusiasm, playfulness and joy. Infuse each and every day with healthy servings of these emotions and you will find an increasing amount of things to add to your gratitude list.